HIT AND RUN.

Sixteen-year-old Roland's hit-and-run accident in a borrowed car sends him fleeing into the wild Australian countryside, where he struggles for both survival and self-respect.

Grade 7-10 A protected 16-year-old boy's growth to manhood, as he finally stands up to his father and takes responsibility for himself, is the theme of Phipson's thought-provoking novel. Wealthy, spoiled and heir to his father's bankrupt value system, Roland has always been at once terrified of and in awe of his father. In a reckless driving accident, he hits a baby carriage and flees the scene. Pursued by a constable into the Australian bush, Roland at first falls into his usual role of expecting help from his father, but in the course of the 24 hours or so that he and Gordon, the constable, spend together (Gordon breaks his leg in a fall and cannot move), he displays the courage and the strength of character that enable him to face the consequences of his actions. Phipson's tightly written story is compelling both as a survival adventure and as an absorbing character study. Roland's initial acceptance of his father's questionable ethics (cheating is all right as long as you don't get caught) in light of his father's achievements should spark some interesting discussions among young people. The gradual change in Roland is credible, and readers get a strong sense of the conflicting values with which he is dealing. A powerful book, Hit and Run addresses critical questions of individual responsibility in an unforgettable way. David Gale, "School Library Journal"
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The Australian author is widely recognized for novels about people one empathizes with because they are familiar in their human virtues and faults. Constable Gordon Sutton thinks Roland Fleming is a bad boy when he accuses a friend of breaking the window in Mr. Fleming's costly auto. At the same time, the policeman sees that Roland is abnormally afraid of his father, and wonders why. Two years later, Sutton is speeding after Roland, who is driving off in a stolen car after hitting a baby carriage, knocking the baby and its mother to the ground. The constable catches up with the panicked youth in a wilderness far from the city and is escorting him to the police car when he falls and breaks his leg. Turning to look at Sutton, Roland says, "Now I can get away." But this is not what he does, in Phipson's mesmerizing story. As it unfolds, readers come to experience the benefits from the companionship that binds the two in a crucial time.
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc.